About 476,000 years old Potential evidence of oldest wooden building found in latest international archaeological discovery
Researchers have discovered an ancient wooden structure from around 476,000 years ago at Kalambo Falls in Zambia that may represent the earliest known use of wood in construction, according to a new archaeological research paper published in the prestigious international academic journal Nature.
The discovery may extend the history of woodworking construction in Africa and expand understanding of the technical ability of early human populations to shape tree trunks in large assemblage structures.
The paper describes that woodworking requires extremely specific preservation environments that are difficult to preserve from the Early Stone Age to the present day. As a result, archaeologists have limited knowledge of when and how Homo sapiens used this basic raw material, and how Pleistocene humans built their environment.
The first and corresponding author of the paper, L . Barham and co-authors report in the paper that they found an ancient wooden structure from a Pleistocene site, located in the Kalambo River basin, about 476,000 years ago, which includes two preserved logs interlaced by an intentionally cut notch, plus a collection of wooden tools.
The authors of the paper also found that the upper log had been shaped and traces of tool use were found on both logs. They suggest that the wood may have been used to create a raised platform, walkway or dwelling foundation in a periodically flooded wetland plain.
The authors of the paper say that their latest findings may enhance understanding of the technological capabilities of tool-making human populations to build their environments, and that a subsequent re-examination of the use of trees in the history of technology should follow.
In a concurrent "News & Views" article in Nature, peer experts argue that the discovery of this potential evidence for the oldest wooden buildings highlights "when people began to structurally change the planet for their own benefit."
